SA in luck that China is driving fuel-cell technology
SA is the world's leading source of platinum and China's push for hydrogen fuel cells using the metal brings money to develop the technology
If there was a stroke of luck for SA’s platinum industry it surely has to be that China is one of the forerunners in driving hydrogen fuel-cell technology and adoption. In a global market where there is so much uncertainty around platinum, with the rise of battery electric vehicles — which use no platinum group metals — and their forecast displacement of internal combustion engines which use platinum and palladium in diesel and petrol exhaust system autocatalysts to scrub out pollutants. The rate of displacement is anyone’s guess and forecasts vary, but the one certainty is that, certainly for passenger vehicles used in cities, the battery electric vehicle, which can be recharged at home or at work and used for relatively short commutes, is gaining traction. There is another form of drive train for vehicles and it converts the energy pent up in hydrogen to electricity by passing it through a platinum covered set of plates, fusing it with oxygen, creating power and water. The problem...
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